The Ocean Floor

Summary
A lesson on the physical science of the ocean floor. The reading is accompanied by true/false questions.

Objectives
• To introduce students to the physical science associated with the ocean floor.

Suggested Grades
5th Grade
6th Grade
7th Grade
8th Grade

Excerpt
Viewing the depths of the Grand Canyon from the canyon rim is an awesome sight and yet the canyon, with an average depth of 4,000 feet, is shallow compared to the trenches that exist on the ocean floor. The ocean floor has the same type of physical features that are found on the continents, including mountain ranges, volcanoes, ridges, hills, plains and canyons called trenches. In spite of the similarities of these physical features, there are fundamental geological differences between the floor of the ocean and the land mass of continents.

The Earths Crust
The earths crust is the outmost layer of the earth and it exists above the mantle. The mantle is a thick layer of rock and some of the mantle is composed of magma which is molten rock.

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